Friday, August 13, 2010

Review of Rules of Attraction

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Pages: 324

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Pub. Date: April 27, 2010

My Rating:

Goodreads says, "When Carlos Fuentes returns to America after living in Mexico for a year, he doesn’t want any part of the life his older brother, Alex, has laid out for him at a high school in Colorado . Carlos likes living his life on the edge and wants to carve his own path—just like Alex did. Then he meets Kiara Westford. She doesn’t talk much and is completely intimidated by Carlos’ wild ways. As they get to know one another, Carlos assumes Kiara thinks she’s too good for him, and refuses to admit that she might be getting to him. But he soon realizes that being himself is exactly what Kiara needs right now."

Carlos Fuentes, Alex's little brother, returns from Mexico to live with Alex in his studio apartment in Colorado. Carlos finds that Alex has completely changed his life for the better. He is doing well in college, left gang life behind him and is still dating Brittany. Priding himself on being a rebel, Carlos makes things hard on Alex during the transition and is extremely unappreciative and uncooperative towards him. Alex does enroll Carlos at the local high school and Carlos ends up with a peer-guide named Kiara Westford. Kiara is the polar opposite of Carlos- she's the quintessential good girl. She has a hard time being Carlos' peer-guide, but she is always up for a challenge. They are like oil and water, which which proves to be very entertaining relationship. To make matters worse, Carlos gets in trouble at school and has to live with the Westfords. Dr. Westford, Kiara's dad, is Alex's professor and is vouching for Carlos. So, things start to really change for Carlos, especially since he is living with Kiara now. Simone Elkeles' Rules of Attraction is just as engrossing and addicting as Perfect Chemistry. I highly recommend it!

Once again Elkeles has captivated me with her writing style. Her books always make for a quick read, because I am always so mesmerized. I also like that she switches the point of view every chapter between Carlos and Kiara so readers can truly get to know the characters better. Some authors struggle with switching the narrators, but Elkeles does this extremely well and I actually prefer it. Also, I enjoy Elkeles' supporting characters, especially Tuck, Kiara's gay best friend. He was hilarious and had me laughing out loud, particularly when interacting with Carlos. Elkeles truly has a gift for creating such unique characters.

I must admit that this story didn't consume me as much as Alex and Brittany's in Perfect Chemistry, but it was still extremely entertaining. If you enjoy the story of bad boy meets good girl, Elkeles writes it like none other. For me, she is the expert on the whole bad boy/good girl attraction. She never makes it too cliche either; it's believable. And for fans of Alex and Brittany, they are in the novel a bit too, which was a nice touch.

According to Elkeles' website, the third novel in this trilogy is due out in 2011 and is called Chain Reaction. It focuses on Carlos and Alex's brother, Luis, and Elkeles promises that Alex, Brittany, Carlos, Kiara, and other characters will make appearances in the novel as well. If it is anything like Perfect Chemistry or Rules of Attraction, I am sure it will be a guaranteed bestseller.